Making it Easier to Work with Government Through IT Schedule 70

I am pleased to announce that we have issued a Request for Information (RFI) regarding proposed changes to GSA’s IT Schedule 70, as part of our agency’s effort to make it easier for suppliers to work with the government. This fits with my vision for enhancing GSA’s role as an economic catalyst in communities around the country. We are reaching out to industry to engage in conversation around the federal procurement space, hopefully spurring increased participation from the business community as well improved contracting practices by our agency.

It makes sense to begin this initiative with IT Schedule 70 — it is the largest, most widely used acquisition vehicle in the federal government, providing direct access to IT products, services, and solutions from thousands of industry partners. It is also a vehicle that can provide access to federal, state, and local government contracting work to new industry partners, and we want to work with companies to understand how they can more successfully access this space, even if they are new to or unfamiliar with government practices. And this is just the start: as part of my vision of GSA as an economic catalyst, we will be looking for other ways to ease the path to government business, especially for small businesses. Our agency will look for ways to reduce burdens, improve policies, automate steps, and streamline processes.

This Schedule 70 RFI focuses on gathering input from industry to help GSA better understand the barriers within the Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Program that, in many cases, deter technology companies from getting on Schedule. The RFI specifically addresses the two-year corporate experience requirement , as well as the related project experience and financial responsibility determinations that make it difficult for many companies to contribute worthy products and services to the government. We will also seek input from other federal agencies to learn their IT procurement best practices.

We are interested in understanding from industry — particularly small businesses — how our practices can be improved. By making it easier for suppliers to work with us, we will offer government as a whole better access to innovative companies, enhanced technology solutions, and a wider range of contracting options.

I encourage all technology firms to review and respond to the RFI, and GSA will take each submission into consideration.